Characteristics of interventions aimed at reducing inequalities along the cancer continuum: A scoping review

Sep 24, 2026

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Cancer inequalities persist within and between countries across sociodemographic groups and unfold along the cancer pathway. Inequalities are produced and sustained from investigation through clinical assessment, decision and access to treatment, and follow-up care. The scoping review describes characteristics of implemented interventions evaluated in published controlled experiments and designed to reduce inequalities. Controlled experiments were searched in Ovid MEDLINE and Embase from Jan 2005 to Apr 2024, extracting publication details, intervention aim and type, setting, sample characteristics, results, and limitations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

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DOI: 10.1002/ijc.35478 REVIE W Characteristics of interventions aimed at reducing inequalities along the cancer continuum: A scoping review Wende C. Safari 1 | Katja Gravenhorst 1 | Clemence Leyrat 1,2 | Koki Shimizu 1 | Matthew J. Smith 1 | Ajay Aggarwal 3,4 | Camille Maringe 1 1Inequalities in Cancer Outcomes Network, Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK 2Department of Medical Statistics, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK 3Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK 4Department of Oncology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK Correspondence Camille Maringe, Inequalities in Cancer Outcomes Network, Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK. Email: [camille.maringe@lshtm.ac.uk](camille.maringe@lshtm.ac.uk) Funding information Cancer Research UK, Grant/Award Number: C7923/A29018 Abstract Cancer inequalities are wide and enduring, within countries between sociodemographic groups and between countries. These are generated and sustained throughout the key phases of the cancer pathway, from investigation, clinical assessment, decision and access to treatment, and follow-up care. We aimed to describe the characteristics of implemented interventions, evaluated in published controlled experiments in the medical literature, specifically designed to target reductions in inequalities along the cancer pathway. We searched the Ovid Medline and Embase databases from January 2005 to April 2024 for controlled experiments reporting on interventions tackling inequalities. We extracted information on the publication, the aim and type of intervention, its setting, the characteristics of the sample and of the interventions, and summarised their results and limitations. We identified 56 articles reporting on 57 interventions. Of these, 51 (89 . 5%) focused on access to screening; 56 (98 .2%) focused on colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers; 37 (64 .9%) concentrated on ethnic inequalities and 48 (84 .2%) were based in the USA. In addition, the majority of interventions sought to change individual knowledge, beliefs, and behaviour rather than issues at the system-level. The importance of addressing how healthcare is delivered equitably to all individuals is widely recognised, and there is evidence that individual factors account for only a small part of cancer pathway inequalities. Yet, this scoping review reports a lack of diversity in the implementation of interventions addressing cancer inequalities, and a minority of them target health system issues. KEYWOR DS cancer continuum, cancer inequalities, experimental designs, interventions Abbreviations: CONSORT, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; HUHY, ‘Help Us Help You’; ICON, Inequalities in Cancer Outcomes Network; IQR, interquartile range; MESH, Medical Subject Headings; OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; PPIE, Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement; UK, United Kingdom; USA, United States of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2025 The Author(s) . International Journal of Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of UICC. 1 | INTRODUCTION The diversity and complexity of cancer pathways (from investigation and diagnosis to treatment and beyond) and the amount of resources involved often correlate with inequalities in access and use of cancer care1–3 and in outcomes,4 both by socio-demographic characteristics within countries,5–7 and between countries.8 These inequal

FAQs

What problem does the scoping review address along the cancer continuum?

It addresses persistent cancer inequalities both within and between countries across sociodemographic groups, occurring across key phases from investigation to follow-up care.

What types of studies and interventions were included?

The review includes published controlled experiments that reported interventions specifically designed to target reductions in inequalities along the cancer pathway.

How did the authors search the literature?

They searched Ovid Medline and Embase from January 2005 to April 2024 for controlled experiments reporting interventions tackling inequalities.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi